


Think Fast

by steorra



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, F/F, Fluff and Humor, chuulip go back and forth, she swept me off my feet literally, some angst bc it’s boring without it, taekwondo au, they’re idiots especially chuulip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 03:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steorra/pseuds/steorra
Summary: Jungeun must not let old feelings get in the way when she discovers the new captain of her rival taekwondo team is her old best friend and first love, Jiwoo.





	Think Fast

Jungeun called for them to stop. She and the team had been practicing sparring against each other for hours and no breaks. They were all worn out, she knew better than to run practice without resting periods.

“Doing good everyone!” Jungeun cheered enthusiastically as she sat down beside her group, joining their circle. There was Jinsol who used her height as an advantage for fast and powerful kicks. Off the mat she was different however. Jinsol was goofy, nerdy and a true kid at heart. A lot of the time, Jungeun found her naiveness to be endearing. Then there was Kahei. She was the newest addition to their team but given her background in northern shaolin and no experience in taekwondo, she quickly picked it up and got really good. At first everyone assumed she was quiet, which was very off. Kahei had tendencies to stay quiet but that was only to analyze the situation before her, other than that she talked nonstop. Then Hyunjin who was their ace. She was somehow involved in every sport and really good it them. Her grades could be better but she was _ the _ student athlete. She was also their baby, and most of the time she didn’t enjoy the baby talk but when any of them paid for her drink or meal, she happily obliged. 

“We’re gonna win the tournament this year, I can feel it from just watching you guys!” Haseul said as she sat next to Kahei. Haseul. Jungeun did used to have a thing for their team manager. She was so cute, pretty, cool, uncool and smart. All of that was in the past however when she started to pick up on the obvious crush she had on Kahei, but she couldn’t blame her. When the girls began dating, she couldn’t be happier. 

“Every single year we keep losing to the damn SU team. I’m tired of it!” Hyunjin huffed as she took off her helmet.

“Yeah, well I heard that since majority of their team graduated, they have new members and a captain which could be of our advantage!” Haseul informed.

“I always thought it was funny how they’re our rival team and the symbol on our jacket is the sun and theirs is the moon.” Kahei chuckled.

“That’s because we’re the sun bears, and we’re proud!” Jinsol said before fist bumping her own chest.

“And they’re the lunar wolves… I swear whoever came up with these mascots when these teams first started must’ve been on something like-“ Kahei rambled on before being hushed by Haseul.

“So they’re actually having a team reboot?” Jungeun asked curiously.

“Yep, and who knows if they’re even good. For all we know they could be a bunch of newbies who jumped at the chance of being a captain.” Haseul said.

“Well, when we do see them, let’s be respectful and professional, _ Hyunjin.” _ Jungeun warned, narrowing her eyes at her direction jokingly.

“In my defense she got too into my face okay! You all know how much I don’t like that!” 

“Baby girl you broke her nose.” Jinsol laughed.

“Yeah I did!” Hyunjin laughed as they both high fived.

“Yeah and you’re lucky she didn’t press charges.” Jungeun scolded. “Alright let’s do one more hour but switch to the dummies, come on dummies.”

Jungeun picked up Jinsol and Hyunjin the the collar of their uniform as they tuned her out and began having a conversation of their own. After the grueling practice, they each headed home. Jungeun in particular had a lot on her mind. Her rival team were going through major changes and getting a new captain, but who’s to say they aren’t good? For all she knew they could be just as good as them, or even worse. Better than them. Jungeun was the glass half empty kind of person, not half full. It made sense to her, how and why would see see the glass half full if you’re the one drinking it? She slapped herself, it was hard to stay grounded and focused when she was nervous. 

_ Jungeun sat on the mat and watched others spar each other for the class. She liked taekwondo, but sparring scared her. She was terrified of the idea of being paired up with a bigger kid or someone of a higher belt color than her. _

_ “Jiwoo,” Jungeun said. “I don’t think I can do this, I think I made a mistake.” _

_ “What?!” Jiwoo said standing up and stepping close to her friend. “You can’t leave, class doesn’t end for another hour and our parents aren’t here!” _

_ “Then I’ll walk home! Tell Master Lim I had to go home and feed my hamster.” _

_ “You don’t even have any pets! Jungeun you’re being ridiculous.” _

_ “Jiwoo I’m scared okay-“ _

_ Suddenly Jiwoo slapped Jungeun across the face. Jungeun held onto her cheek with a dumb stare that opposed Jiwoo’s face of determination. _

_ “Get a hold of yourself-“ _

_ “You just slapped me…” _

_ “I did it because I care. I know you can do this!” _

_ “Jiwoo I don’t think I can do this…” _

_ “Don’t think!” Jiwoo said loudly putting both hands on her shoulders, bringing their faces closer. “Feel.” _

_ “... did you have one of those egg salad sandwiches before class-“ _

_ “ STOP THAT! Stop trying to change the subject! Be brave!” Jiwoo said with a humph before walking into the mat and preparing for her turn. _

_ Be brave. _

  


Jungeun unlocked the door to their section of the gym that their university sectioned off for them. She was usually the first to arrive out of everyone in the team so the gym was empty and she turned on the lights. After changing into athletic clothes rather than the typical uniform she’d normally put on for practice, she decided that it would be a good day to just exercise as a whole. Shortly after one by one, the rest of the team arrived and they all began doing basic exercises together. 

Midway into their workout, the door the the gym opened. Jungeun didn’t think much of it as occasionally people would come in to play basketball. But when the figures started making her way, she stopped her team and watched as a group of women approached them. 

“Wait a second, Jungie?” The girl with reddish hair asked. She stood in the middle of two others. One of them was about the same height as Jinsol but she looked even more toned and muscular than her. The other was just a bit shorter than Hyunjin but despite her slight frowning she looked fragile nonetheless. Then the last girl stood behind them, the most significant thing about her was her mid length pink hair.

“... do I know you?” Jungeun asked stepping up to her.

The girl scoffed and threw her hands in the air, “Ah come on you don’t recognize me? Come on guess!”

Jungeun raised a single brow at the stranger’s behavior, “I don’t know, sorry.”

“Aww,” she said sadly. “Have you really forgotten about me? It’s me Jiwoo.” 

When Jungeun studied her face a bit more as she frowned it made sense. But can you blame her for not remembering right away. They hadn’t seen each other in 12 years since Jiwoo moved to America. She didn’t even know she came back, the former best friends had lost in touch and at some point Jungeun had accepted she would never see her again. Eight year old Jiwoo looks nothing like current Twenty-one year old Jiwoo. She matured physically all the while her face was still just as cute as she remembered. It finally clicked.

“Oh my god!” Jungeun shouted, pulling her into a tight hug. “When did- When did you get back?”

“I came back 2 years ago! It’s so good to see you Jungie.”

“And it’s good to see you Wooming.” The two got lost in the moment of their reunion, as they held onto each other, seemingly forgetting they weren’t alone. Hyunjin coughed loudly to bring them back. “Oh right, uh Jiwoo these are my friends slash teammates, Kahei, Jinsol and Hyunjin, and then our team manager Haseul. We’re the taekwondo team here,I’m captain.”

“I was hoping you weren’t gonna say that…” Jiwoo said as she rubbed her neck.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, _ we’re _ SU’s updated taekwondo team… and I’m the new captain…” Jiwoo sighed. She turned her body slightly so she could introduce her team. “This is Sooyoung, Heejin and Ryujin.”

“Oh! So that means we’re gonna-“

“Uh huh.”

Jungeun visibly tensed up, she crossed her arms and nodded her head trying to make sense of the situation. At this point the rest of her team stood behind her, posture and facial expressions mirroring those of Jiwoo’s side. 

“So uh, why’d you come here then Jiwoo?”

“We wanted to check our rival competition, I didn’t think it’d be you but regardless of our past friendship we _ won’t _take it easy.” 

“Neither will we.” Jungeun replied, standing her ground.

“Say… why don’t we have a quick sparring session for old times sake?” Jiwoo challenged.

“You want to spar us?” Jungeun chuckled lowly.

“I do, unless you guys are afraid.”

“You guys didn’t even bring your sparring gear.”

“We’ll just borrow your guys.“

“Fine then,” Jungeun waved off and gave Jiwoo her own gear and borrowed Jinsol’s. She waited for her to adjust all the proper gear and walked onto the mat the girls had rolled out earlier. “I’m not the same scared little eight year old kid by the way. I was made captain for a reason.”

“Good to know. Sooyoung, get the timer.” Jiwoo instructed before walking onto the mat. 

“I’ll be the ref if she’s gonna keep time.” Jinsol announced, slightly pushing Sooyoung to the side. They glared at each other and in that time Jinsol studied her face. Despite the annoyance present, there was a slight infatuation in Sooyoung’s eyes. They daringly stepped closer to each other and Jinsol nearly gasped at the crisp apple scent from the woman in front of her. Now was not a good time to be attracted to an opponent.

They came back to reality when Haseul slapped the back of Jinsol’s head. The shorter woman shook her head at the blush present on both of their faces.

“Alright, back to this,” Jinsol stammered, standing up straight and flipped her hair. Jungeun and Jiwoo were too caught up in each other to notice what had happened. “Bow and then get in your ready stances.”

Jungeun and Jiwoo did so, and got in position. They both bounced on the mat. Jungeun laughed mentally seeing that Jiwoo’s stance hasn’t changed since they were kids. Both hands up to her chest like a boxer while moving her body back and forth towards her. Jungeun always thought hers was better, where she bounced in place, and held her left first lower than her right. And then Jinsol called for their match to start.

Jiwoo moved swiftly to side kick her torso, almost catching Jungeun off guard, thankfully moving out of the way. She laughed at Jiwoo’s speed, remembering how much she hated it because she was always quick on her toes. She back kicked quickly, aiming for the large red dot on Jiwoo’s chest piece but found herself kicking air as Jiwoo quickly moved to avoid the hit. She groaned trying to think of other attacks knowing that their minute was nearing. She threw her fist in her direction only for Jiwoo to block it then quickly try to punch back. Jungeun pushes the fist back with her forearm and hopped back to gain momentum for a sidekick. She panicked watching Jiwoo do the same. Suddenly the two kicked at the dot on their chest pieces simultaneously and the force of it, threw them both back. Jungeun narrowed her eyes at Jiwoo, who only huffed rather aggressively and got back into stance. Just as they were both about to lunge at each other with new attacks, Jinsol and Sooyoung halted them, ending their match. 

Jungeun and Jiwoo frowned and bowed at each other before walking off the mat. 

“Good match,” Jiwoo said as she took off her gear. “You’re right, you definitely aren’t the same Jungeun I knew when I left.”

Jungeun smiled sadly as she remembered the painful days that led up to Jiwoo leaving. “A lot has changed Jiwoo, and you always said change was good.”

“I did? I don’t even remember that.” Jiwoo giggled as she handed her gear back. “Judging by their captain, I’m sure they’re a great team.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe we’ll see each other around, for more sparring practices.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird to be practicing with your competitors?”

“Don’t think, feel!”

“Alright, I feel like it’s a little weird to be practicing against your competitors.” Jungeun answered flatly.

“Ah! There’s the Jungeun I remember. Fine then, it’d be better for us to focus on ourselves. When the tournament comes, we’re gonna come at full force!”

“And we’ll be prepared.” 

Jiwoo smirked, “See ya around Jungie.”

Jungeun watched as Jiwoo and her team leave the gym. The feelings that she had buried a long time ago had little by little begun to flutter back.

“So…” Jinsol whistled. “There’s something going on here…”

“There’s nothing going.” Jungeun replied, still eyeing the door her friend had just walked through.

“Come on, we’re not that stupid. You can tell us, we’re like a family!” Kahei said.

Jungeun closed her eyes and sighed. She turned around and faced her friends. She did owe them the truth. 

“Jiwoo and I used to be best friends.”

“That part we knew _ Jungie _.” Haseul teased.

“I’m getting the feeling that there’s more.” Hyunjin said slyly.

Jungeun groaned, “I used to.. haveacrushonher” she said in a hushed voice.

“What?” Jinsol asked, cupping her ear.

“I used to. Have a crush… on her. There.” Jungeun admitted before burying her face in her hands. The girls cooed at her, making her even more embarrassed. “Ahh! Stop it! That was more than 10 years ago, and she never knew about nor did she like me back so, I don’t wanna hear about it!”

A moment of silence.

“AWW WITTLE BABY JUNGIE HAD A CRUSH ON WOOMING HOW CUTE!” Jinsol gushed as she moved to pinch her cheeks. Jungeun slapped her hands away and angrily glared at her. “Ow! Bad baby, no hitting!”

“Shut up!”

“How come she gets to baby you and I can’t.” Jinsol whined.

“Nobody is babying me!” Jungeun stomped. “Everyone get back to practice! Now!”

The rest of practice was filled with them teasing Jungeun. She knew she had made a mistake telling them. 

After practice had ended and after a shower she went to her kitchen she suddenly remembered she forget to buy groceries. Jungeun sighed as she was already comfortably wearing sweats and she’d have to change out of them before leaving her apartment. She didn’t like going anywhere outside her apartment in the clothes that she slept in, she just felt dirty. She remembered how Jiwoo didn’t care what she was wearing as children, if she wanted to go outside wearing her pajamas and show up at her doorstep then she would. After changing Jungeun drove to the nearest grocery store. Her most important task of the night: get eggs, and maybe whatever else she sees she worked up an appetite. 

“Jungie!” Jiwoo called from behind. 

Jungeun turned around and at first felt a shiver of fear down her spine of being called until she realized it was her. She smiled as Jiwoo hugged her.

“Hey Jiwoo.”

“Told ya I’d see you around, but don’t worry. I’ll be friendly with ya since we’re not in our uniforms.”

“Came to pick up eggs too?” Jungeun pointed.

“No,” Jiwoo answered shaking her head. “Came to get more ice cream. Sooyoung told me to go get some since I finished it and left the empty container in there.” She laughed.

“Oh, Sooyoung told you? Are you guys…?”

Jiwoo looked at her blankly for a moment, “Oh no! Gross I would never, we’re roommates.”

“You living with anybody?”

“Nah, just me.”

“Ooh must be nice! You could walk around naked if you wanted to!”

“... I guess?” Jungeun laughed.

“Where do you live? We should catch up!”

“I live in the apartments near my campus.”

“Ahh, well give me your phone number.”

“Someone’s still as forward as ever.” Jungeun said as she and Jiwoo exchanged contacts. She noticed that Jiwoo had put the peach emoji by her name. The memories of Jiwoo eating all kinds of fruits, especially peaches. There was a time when they were kids where Jiwoo would wash the peach pits afterwards and use them for her slingshot. Jiwoo was always a wild kid, but that’s what made Jungeun begin to like her. She was shy, and soft spoken. Then came Jiwoo who both rhetorically and literally busted her door open and guided her through out the way (Jiwoo broke the door to her treehouse). 

“Yes well,” Jiwoo grinned. “You know when I went to America, I thought about you all the time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It was so hard to contact you and when I lost our bracelet in the move I cried for months. I was sure you forgot about me.”

“I would never. And hey, now that you’re back we can catch up and everything!” 

“Aw I really missed you,” Jiwoo said as she held her hand. 

Jungeun felt her heart pace begin to pick up from the gesture. Jiwoo’s hand was still weirdly soft, the girl insisted that she didn’t moisturize, but Jungeun had a hunch she was lying.

“Well I should get going, I’ll text you okay! I promise!” Jiwoo said as she waved goodbye and to the checkout area.

“Sounds good!” Jungeun waved back. She smiled to herself. 

It felt good to have Jiwoo back in her life. 

_ Jungeun hugged onto her friend tightly as they both wept. The next day Jiwoo would be on a flight to some state in the United States that sounded like a shape. Hexagon? Oregon? _

_ “I’ll wear my bracelet everyday and when I come back I’ll still have it on!” Jiwoo declared, wiping away her tears. _

_ “I will too!” Jungeun cried. “I’m really going to miss you Wooming.” _

_ “Stop don’t make that face!” _

_ “What face?” _

_ “That ugly face when you cry-“ was all Jiwoo could say before having another outburst. Jungeun’s outburst followed shortly after. _

_ “I love you Wooming.” Jungeun pouted. _

_ “I love you too Jungie, let’s promise to keep in touch no matter what. Okay?” _

_ “Okay.” _

_ “No you have to say it, ‘I promise’.” _

_ Together in unison the girls made a promise that unfortunately wouldn’t be kept. _

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> for chuulip nation
> 
> follow me on twt and comment bc i need it :/ @kimjungeunsz


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